


Stark-o'-Lantern

by FancyKraken



Category: Iron Man (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Established Relationship, Fluff, Halloween, Humor, M/M, Pumpkin carving, Pumpkins
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-29
Updated: 2016-10-29
Packaged: 2018-08-27 16:32:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8408773
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FancyKraken/pseuds/FancyKraken
Summary: Tony hasn't paid much attention to Halloween for years, so why would this year be any different? That is until one day Tony finds two random pumpkins just hanging out in the kitchen. Loki is definitely up to something.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Staubengel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Staubengel/gifts).



> This fic is based on this awesome [piece of fanart](http://staubengel.tumblr.com/post/151585466369/fancykraken-requested-frostiron) that my terrible friend, Staubengel, drew for me. I love it to bits and immediately had to write something for it.
> 
> Major thank you's and love to KimliPan/thedolma (on tumblr) for beta'ing this and giving me such wonderful feedback. :)
> 
> Also Jarvis will never be dead to me. <3

There was nothing remarkably special about October to Tony. Of course as a small child he had dressed up, gone to parties, and Jarvis and his wife Ana took him trick or treating. But as he grew older, the magic started to wear off. Parties became more adult, more of an obligation. Other children his age were few and far between at this time, and those that did attend were there because their presence too was required at parties that they had no interest in. They were relegated to the playrooms to watch scary movies and eat candy while the adults danced and drank fancy drinks with weird names. Tony was still quite young when he stopped really caring about Halloween and its dark magic that allowed anyone to be what he or she wanted for at least one night. Oh, how Tony wanted to be someone else. Someone his father would actually be proud of and praised; someone who would be worthy of taking over the Stark name.

The years passed and a lot of shit happened to Tony. Some good, some bad, and some just fucking weird as hell. Of course, by this time Halloween was barely a blip on Tony’s radar. Stark Industries usually had a Halloween party to celebrate, but it wasn’t anything to really bother with for Tony. The Christmas and New Year’s Party were the one he was required to attend, at least according to Pepper.

So yes, Halloween plus Tony Stark wasn’t really a thing. Until Loki showed up, then sometimes it felt like Halloween every day.

New York happened. Then Ultron, then Thanos, then a lot of picking up the pieces of Tony’s life and the rest of the Avengers. He didn’t know what he was now. Iron Man, always, Avenger…well, maybe not right now.

But it didn’t matter to him at the moment. What mattered was that he was with the person (well, god) he stupidly and blessedly fell in love with. Loki was the puzzle piece that fit so well into his heart that he didn’t realize it until it was almost too late. Now he was determined to just be with him for a while. Try this domestic thing out like millions of other couples had done before him and continue to do so now. Of course not all of said couples sometimes dealt with the occasional super scientist trying to release a radioactive poison that turned people into raging orange monsters, or mutant dinosaurs rampaging through New York, but it still kept things interesting.

Tony and Loki both shared a lovely house in upstate New York. With the destruction of his Malibu estate a couple of years before, he needed a change; he needed to go back to his roots. Living in the old Stark mansion wasn’t an option, too many ghosts and unhappy memories, so Tony had his own house built to best suit his and Loki’s needs. One of those needs was a lot of space so as not to annoy the neighbours with Tony’s testing of new suits and tech, Loki’s magic, and their predisposition to make love pretty much anywhere when the mood struck.  And it struck often.

Walking into the spacious kitchen, Tony frowned slightly at the two pumpkins sitting on the kitchen counter. They looked ordinary enough, orange, and oddly shaped. Of course there was a bit of distrust with pumpkins and Tony ever since the Green Goblin and his freakish OCD about Halloween made one blow up in Tony’s face during a fight. Peter Parker told him that if he wasn’t wearing his suit at the time then Tony could’ve totally cosplayed the best Headless Horseman at the next comic con.

“J, the pumpkins?”

“ _They’re just pumpkins, sir. No sign of non-organic, alien or man made material present,”_ Jarvis replied.

“Huh.” Tony knew the only other person who could have brought them in here was Loki. Pepper was currently in Hong Kong making billion dollar deals about clean energy, and Rhodey was back in California. So what was Loki doing with two random pumpkins?

“Babe?” Tony called out. No answer. Loki was either not home or being a sexy Asgardian hermit in his library/workroom. Shrugging slightly, Tony opened up the fridge to grab the remainder of his smoothie he made earlier. Shutting the fridge door, Tony yelped, spilling some smoothie on his well-loved Bruce Lee shirt. Loki, the little shit, was standing right there behind the open door when seconds ago he was not.

“We talked about this, asshole,” Tony grumbled, grabbing a dishtowel to dab up the mess on his shirt. “No scaring the boyfriend, I could die of shock.”

Loki smirked, arching an elegant eyebrow. “Ah, yes, you mortals are made of such delicate material, I keep forgetting.”

“Ha-fucking-ha.” Tony rolled his eyes. Truth was that Tony and Loki were working on plans so that they could live a very long somewhat happy-dysfunctional-weird life together.

Loki leaned up against the counter, eyeing his lover. “Aren’t you curious?”

“About what?” Tony played along, taking a sip of his drink.

“You know what,” Loki said, nodding his head towards the pumpkins.

“Oh, those! I’m guessing you want to make soup, or they’re for some kind of beauty regime. Gotta keep that healthy Asgardian glow, can’t have wrinkles or people will think you’re getting old.”

Green eyes narrowed into slits, staring at Tony in a very predatory way. “Do I look old to you, Stark?”

Tony had to tread carefully here otherwise he’d be in trouble or denied sex, which would be worse. “No, of course not. You don’t look a day over a thousand and one.”

“Hrmph.” Loki grumped, taking a step towards the pumpkins. “Since you again try to get under my skin—“

“I was sure under something this morning,” Tony interrupted, grinning.

“—I will just tell you. I desire to try out your Midgardian tradition of carving these vegetables.”

“Why?”

“Why not?” Loki acted like it was the most obvious thing.

“Yeah, you, carving a pumpkin, I don’t think so. What are you really after?”  Tony’s ‘Loki-is-up-to-something-that-isn’t-sexy-for-Tony’ meter was quickly rising to the top level.

“Why would I lie to you about this?” Loki looked slightly offended.

It was one of the most absurd things for the so-called ‘God of Lies’ to say. Tony almost laughed at the sheer irony of it.

“Seriously?” Tony gave Loki a hard stare, not buying the bullshit Loki was trying to sell.

With an overdramatic sigh, Loki acted defeated that his lie was so blatantly transparent. “I offer you a challenge. Whoever carves the best image into this pumpkin will have the loser do a favour for them.”

Intrigued, Tony took the bait. “And that favour would be…?”

“Winner’s choice, of course.”

“Of course,” Tony echoed.

The two of them stood in silence for a few moments, Tony trying to read Loki and pick up what he was really up to. Over the years he’ got used to the subtle ways that Loki liked to twist words, lie without actually lying, and of course built up a pretty big ‘he’s totally bullshitting this’ radar. It took Loki time to let down his guard and trust Tony with his true self, but it was worth it. Tony now held something of Loki’s inside him that no one in the universe would.

“Alright, Martha Stewart, what is this favour that you want?”

“A date.” Loki put simply, smiling slyly.

“A date is no reason to have a contest, you can always just ask.”

“To a diplomatic dinner in—“

“Aw, noooo,” Tony whined. He hated going to weird off world dinners where there were people and things that just weren’t… normal. Of course there were plenty of not normal people here to avoid having dinner with, but dealing with aliens or whatever got pretty boring, pretty fast. “You remember the last time, Lo, that tentacle-she-demon-alien-thing tried to eat me, and not in the fun way.”

“You shouldn’t have insulted her grandfather having a tail instead of another tentacle,” Loki said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“You want me to get eaten, I just know it.”

“Only by me, dear.” Loki stepped closer, cupping the side of Tony’s neck tenderly.

“This is important. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t so.” Leaning in, Loki pressed his lips to Tony’s in a slow lingering kiss, tracing his tongue along Tony’s bottom lip. As they broke apart Loki could feel his lover’s resigned acceptance.

Tony placed his hands on Loki’s hips, preventing the god from stepping away. “Fine. What do I get?”

“Like I said, anything.”

A dangerous smirk formed over Tony’s lips. “Anything?”

Loki rolled his eyes. “Yes, Stark, anything.”

“Sexy anything?” Tony waggled his eyebrows.

“Once again your predictability does nothing to amaze me,” Loki sighed. “Out with it, or I will choose for you.”

“Okay, okay.” Tony pulled Loki’s hips closer to his so that their waists were nicely pressed together. “You, me, you, you, and you.” Tony couldn’t miss the way Loki’s lips parted ever so slightly at Tony’s request. He slowly pressed his crotch harder into Loki’s.

Reaching up, Loki traced the pad of his thumb over Tony’s bottom lip. “I think I can arrange that. Too much time has passed since I have worked you over with me and my clones.”

Heat pooled low in Tony’s belly at the thought of it. “So we’ve have a deal?”

“Yes, Stark, we do.”

“Yay!” Tony stretched up on the balls of his feet, giving Loki a quick kiss on the lips.

Letting go of his hips, Tony moved over to the pumpkins. He grabbed the most round and symmetrical looking one, taking it over to the large island in middle of the kitchen. Loki followed suit.

“So, I think we need some ground rules here, because I know you love to cheat at stuff like this to get your way.” Tony looked to Loki, studying the gods’ demeanour.

“Mmm, I predicted you saying something like this. That is why I have these,” Loki said, magically producing two medium sized packages with an elegant wave of his hand. The label read ‘Pumpkin Carving Masters’ and had pictures of several small saws, drills, pokers, and a plastic scoop on it. Everything you needed to carve a pumpkin, direct from whatever drug or big box store that offered the same set to millions of people.

Tony looked offended. “You’re serious?”

“We will only use the tools at our disposal,” Loki said, nodding his head to the carving tools on the counter next to his hand.

Narrowing his eyes, Tony picked up the packages, examining them for any tricks, magic, or any kind of shit that was typical of Loki to pull. He shook the package next to his ear to listen for any ticking, and Loki snatched it out of his hands.

“Honestly, Stark,” Loki huffed. “They are perfectly normal and do not contain any bombs.”

“That’s a relief. Okay, then, we’ll use the tools here, but you’re cleaning up the pumpkin guts after we’re done,” Tony stated, snatching back the package. He began unwrapping the tools.

Despite the activity being not that exciting in and of itself, Tony found that there was a little thrill of excitement in his chest for the challenge. He hadn’t carved a pumpkin since he was about 5-years-old, and not without an adult —genius as he was, you still didn’t want to trust a 5-year-old with a knife—he knew he would carve a great pumpkin and probably kick Loki’s ass. What did his boyfriend know about pumpkin carving? Of course he was wicked good with a knife and could kill a whole army with one just the size of his pinkie finger, but that wouldn’t apply to something like this.

Placing the tools on the table, Tony grinned at Loki. “Ready for me to kick your ass, babe?”

“You may do other things to my ass, but kick it? I highly doubt that.” Loki’s eyes glinted dangerously.

“Oooh, is that an invitation?” Tony grinned.

“Hardly.”

“I’ll take it as an open ended one.” Tony turned his attention back to the pumpkin. “Just call me Tony Scissorhands.” He couldn’t see it, but he knew Loki was rolling his eyes. Picking up one of the small saws, Tony paused. “We gonna just go until we’re done or is there a time limit?”

“A time limit seems logical. What would you say, an hour?”

“Nah, let’s make it thirty minutes. More challenging.”

“If you want it to be that then I agree. Stark Interface, set a timer.” Loki’s eyes flickered up to the ceiling.

“ _The time has been noted, please give the word when you are ready to begin,”_ Jarvis smoothly replied.

Loki arched a quizzical eyebrow at Tony. This was it, time to get carving. “Hit it, J!”

“ _Timer is activated._ ”

Tony gripped the small saw and sunk it into the top of the pumpkin. The small tool really wasn’t that great as it kept snagging on the skin and inner pulp of the pumpkin. Tony would have loved to have his laser or even a decent knife. He finished cutting the top off and grabbed the stem, pulling the lid of the pumpkin off from the rest of it. The pulp and guts of the pumpkin pulled at it, not wanting to relinquish itself just yet. Next Tony took the small scoop and scraper, reaching into the cavity to remove the guts and seeds. It was messy work and felt weird; Tony didn’t like gooey things, but really who did? Soon he was done and the cavity of the pumpkin was now cleaned and ready for carving.

Looking over at Loki, Tony observed him bent down over the face of his pumpkin. Guts and seeds were piled neatly next to it. Show off.

Now to carve the damn thing. Tony paused, considering what he could do. Iron Man? Ehn, too clichéd, but also kind awesome and something Loki would expect. He wanted to surprise Loki with something different. But what…? Tony looked over to Loki again, still bent over his pumpkin, his hands moving skilfully as he carved whatever image he was doing. A small prickle of doubt began to appear in Tony’s gut. He could do this; he’s a genius engineer and graduated top of his class years ahead of most other geniuses.

“ _Eight minutes remaining, sir_ ,” Jarvis cut in.

“What?!” Tony gulped. He’d wasted too much time figuring out what image to actually carve.

“Problem, darling?” Loki’s cool confident voice drifted over. He didn’t even look up to check his lover’s progression.

“Nope! No problem, just working on my design. You may refer to me as Da Vinci after this.” Tony grabbed the small carving knife and began to carve the face of the pumpkin. Fuck it, classic Jack-O-Lantern design it was.

“Mmmm,” Loki hummed, clearly amused. He knew Tony was in trouble.

Poking the second eye out, Tony tossed it on the pile of guts strewn near his pumpkin. Okay, now a nose and mouth then he’d be done. Tony quickly sawed through, not paying too much attention if the lines were straight or not. As he progressed to the mouth he almost cut his finger open. Maybe he could do a vampire pumpkin? Real blood. Loki couldn’t blame him for not going all the way.

“ _Time is up, sirs_ ,” Jarvis said.

“Fuck,” Tony muttered. He quickly grabbed the newly cut chunk of the mouth out of the cavity and dropped it down on the island surface. Yes. Done. He let out a breath he didn’t realize he was holding.

“Are you alright?” Loki asked, a bemused look on his face. He had his pumpkin facing away from Tony, not ready to reveal his work.

“Fine, good. Never better.” Tony looked a little panicked.

“Glad to hear it. Shall we?” Loki asked, politely.

“Yeah, okay.” Tony was determined not to let his pumpkin get him down. Classic designs were always a great way to go, that’s why they were the classics. Tony turned his around, showing Loki.

Loki stared and if Tony didn’t know better he could swear he bit his tongue to keep from laughing.

“Well?” Tony was proud of his pumpkin, crooked lines and all.

“It is a valiant effort, Stark. I applaud you.”

“Yeah, you say ‘valiant’ and ‘effort’, yet I get the feeling you mean ‘that is the worst pumpkin ever’,” Tony frowned.

“My words were sincere,” Loki said, puzzled.

Tony studied Loki for a moment, trying to see if there was real mockery there. He was ashamed and pleased to see that there was none. Loki was actually telling the truth.

“Uh, then thanks.” Tony shifted nervously in place.  “Now I wanna see yours.”

“Very well.” Loki gently turned the pumpkin around.

Tony’s jaw almost hit the floor. Loki’s pumpkin was gorgeous, delicately carved and detailed. On it was a witch with an open spell book in the middle of casting something. He had used the natural colours and textures of the pumpkin to create details that almost seemed impossible. Small glowing lights winked and shimmered around the witch, giving off the illusion of magic being cast.

Magic being cast…

“Oh you _fucker_! You cheated! You used magic!” Tony pointed to Loki’s pumpkin accusingly.

“Of course, why wouldn’t I?”

“That wasn’t the agreement! You said—“

“All the tools at our disposal,” Loki smiled devilishly, wiggling a few fingers up in the air, green sparks of light emitting from his fingertips.

Narrowing his eyes, Tony tried to will his small carving knife to lodge in Loki’s forehead. Unfortunately it didn’t work. “You tricky bastard,” Tony said angrily.

“Come now, Stark,” Loki took a step over to Tony and cupped his jaw with his hands. He gently ran a thumb across Tony’s stubble on his cheek. “I have been known as the Trickster for centuries, what would you expect of me?”

“Not screwing over your boyfriend. We had a deal.” Tony glared up at him.

Loki smiled softly. “Would you have come to this dinner if I had just asked?”

Tony scrunched his nose in distaste. “No.”

“Exactly. Hence why I tricked you.”

“Yeah, but now that I know it was a trick I can just back out.”

“And miss out on your request if you had won?” Loki mused.

“Huh?” Tony hadn’t won, so by default he shouldn’t be getting the prize he had requested.

Loki leaned in, his lips almost brushing Tony’s. “Go to this dinner with me and I will grant your request, times three.”

“You’re gonna—“ but Tony was cut off as Loki softly kissed Tony’s response away. A tiny thrill of anticipation shot down straight to Tony’s groin. As Loki pulled away, he grinned. “So I get what I want even though I lost?”

“Exactly,” Loki smiled wickedly. “You would think I would pass up a request like that? You wound my pride, Stark.”

“You play dirty, you asshole, but I guess I can live with it. Just make sure nothing eats me while we’re there,” Tony said, a hint of unease in his voice.

“Of course, darling. No one but me gets to eat you,” Loki purred, leaning in for another kiss.

“Perfect,” Tony breathed, just as Loki’s lips met his again. They slowly explored each other’s mouths, relishing the sensation. Arousal built up in Tony’s abdomen as the kiss became more heated. If they didn’t stop soon then they’d be headed to the bedroom.

“Oh?” Loki breathed against Tony’s skin as hands went down to the waistband of Loki’s pants and began to unbuckle them.

Tony leaned in further, teasing Loki’s mouth with his tongue.

Suddenly Loki froze, eyes flew open in shock as he felt the cold and unpleasant sensation in his pants. “Wha-“

Quickly withdrawing his hand, Tony held it up, gooey pumpkin guts and seeds still stuck to it. He grinned wolfishly. “Ha ha! Take that, asshole!” He took his other free hand and pressed it against Loki’s groin, squishing around all the pumpkin guts he had just dropped down Loki’s pants.

Loki blinked, almost too stunned to react.

Tony grinned and quickly ran out of the kitchen.

“You wish to play dirty then, do you?” Loki called after him, having regained his composure.

The only reply Loki received was Tony’s laughter echoing from the hallway leading towards their bedroom.

 

Fanart by [Staubengel](http://staubengel.tumblr.com/post/151585466369/fancykraken-requested-frostiron)

 


End file.
